Sure, opposing “The Ultimate Fighter 14″ coach Miller looked like he had little left to offer as he wilted in the face of Bisping’s offensive onslaught, but that doesn’t mean his cardio was an issue.

According to Bisping, getting beat up will just do that to a fellow.

“I don’t think the cardio was an issue,” Bisping told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I don’t think anyone’s cardio was the issue. Did you see the pace of the fight? You see how many punches I was throwing?

“My cardio wasn’t an issue. Far from it. I feel it was a fast pace, and whilst I was tired, I was able to keep the pace up.”

The opening round of the fight started out at a more methodical pace, with neither fighter really committing to a serious offense. Miller did score a key takedown and claimed the round on all three judges’ cards after wrapping the legs of Bisping and remaining in top position for a large portion of the round.

Bisping admits it was a frustrating five minutes.

“It was a shaky first round,” Bisping admitted. “I was annoyed at the first round. Maybe I was a little blase or whatever. But I got in my rhythm eventually and took care of business.”

That may be a bit of an understatement. Miller slowed in the second frame, and his takedown attempts were snuffed out with relative ease. On the feet, Bisping bloodied his opponent’s nose with straight punches while avoiding Miller’s looping overhands. The action was so one-sided, judges Patrica Morse-Jarman and Junichiro Kamijo actually awarded the Brit a 10-8 score in the second frame.

“Toward the end of the first round, I kind of started being able to predict his rhythm,” Miller said. “In the second round, it all started to come together. I started landing my shots, and I started really dictating the pace and using my footwork to cut him off and keeping his back against the cage. That was the plan.

“If I’ve got him backed against the cage, I’ve got the whole cage behind me to move away and sprawl if he shoots or whatever.”

By the time the third frame opened, it was painfully obvious that Miller had nothing to offer, and the fight was mercifully waved off at the 3:34 mark of the frame. While the result means Bisping can now claim a four-fight win streak, many MMA pundits have chosen to focus on Miller’s apparent cardio shortcomings rather than “The Count’s” offensive output.

Bisping believes that’s a troubling pattern that needs to be addressed.

“It’s nonsense,” Bisping said. “This is it: Every one of my opponents gasses. Anytime I stop someone, it’s because they gas. Guarantee you Jason didn’t gas. Guarantee you Jason could have gone five rounds. This was a five-round fight. I finished it in the third. This is a big opportunity for Jason. I guarantee you he had the cardio to go five.

“Guess what. You might have cardio, but when someone’s landing big bodyshots like I was, kneeing you in the stomach and punching you repeatedly in the face, your cardio gets affected. Because I bet the best runners in the world, you kick the [expletive] out of them, they won’t run quite as well.”

Whatever was ultimately to blame, Bisping essentially embarrassed his rival coach. Despite offering substantial trashtalk in the pre-fight buildup, Miller fell flat in the octagon. Some now wonder if the colorful “Mayhem” even belongs in the UFC after what UFC president Dana White called “the most one-sided fight I might have ever seen in the UFC.”

Bisping believes Miller does have something to offer the UFC’s 185-pound division but also thinks he needs to really sharpen his work on the feet in order to prove a real threat.

“Listen, the guy’s tough, and he’s got skills,” Bisping said. “I think he needs to neaten himself up, though. He’s very sloppy on the feet. He needs to do some work, I would say. I’ve got good takedown defense, and he took me down in the first round. Maybe someone less experienced he could have got the submission, so I can’t say that. He gave me a tough first round. He really did.

“Yeah, he can definitely beat guys. He’s got a good record. But if I was him, my advice would be to go and just train to keep his shape a little bit more when he’s standing up, to try and be a little more orthodox and a little more neat and tidy.”

Bisping’s next move isn’t entirely clear. Many MMA pundits believed a win would catapult him into a fight with Mark Munoz, but UFC officials announced on Saturday that “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” will instead face Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2.

Bisping, then, is still a win or two away from a shot at the middleweight belt. As such, the Brit said he’s not tied down to any particular next foe. Just make sure it’s a top name, and make sure it moves him closer to the title shot, he said.

“I class myself as one of the best in the world,” Bisping said. “I think I consistently prove that, and I want to fight for the belt. I’ve been around the UFC a long time, and that’s what I want to do. That’s what all fighters want to do.

“It looks like Chael and Mark Muoz, they’re going to fight for the No. 1 contender. Fair enough. In the meantime, I want to fight whoever it is that gets me closer to that belt, whoever it is. Whoever the top guys are out there, I want to fight them.”

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